How did I, a fake bodyguard, become a terrestrial immortal?

The carriage traveled along the abandoned path.

As evening approached, the group finally arrived at the old ferry.

After the Qinglong River changed its course, the river surface here became much narrower.

Several dilapidated wooden boats were moored on the shore, and the nearby houses had long been abandoned, with only a low shack emitting smoke.

An elderly man with one eye sat outside the shed.

The old man was wearing a straw raincoat and holding a pipe in his hand.

Upon seeing the carriage approach, a strange light flashed in his single eye, but it quickly returned to its cloudy state.

"Grandpa, is it still possible to cross the river here?" Lu Yang asked.

The old boatman exhaled a puff of smoke: "I can ferry people, but not carts and horses."

Lu Yang briefly described the appearance of the black carriage and asked the old boatman if he had seen it before.

The old boatman was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"I saw him two days ago."

Upon hearing this, Bai Yixin's face lit up with joy.

Where did they go?

"The other side of the river," the old boatman pointed into the distance. "There was a barge that picked us up and transported us and our vehicle across. If you want to catch up, I can take you across the river."

Zhao Mingtang stood beside Lu Yang, her gaze sweeping over the old man's neck.

Beneath the raincoat, a thin black line was faintly visible.

It looks like the mark left by some kind of insect burrowing into the skin.

She gently touched Lu Yang's arm, her eyes glancing at the old man's neck.

Lu Yang nodded calmly; there was indeed a problem.

The old boatman's appearance was too coincidental, and the information he provided was far too detailed.

It's as if they were waiting for them here.

To find Fang Xuan, they could only continue their investigation by following the clues he left behind.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, old man."

Lu Yang took out a piece of broken silver and handed it over.

The old boatman did not refuse, took the money, and turned to walk towards the shore.

The group left the carriages and horses near the shed and boarded a wide-bottomed awning boat.

The old boatman poled the boat, and it slowly moved away from the shore. At first, the river was relatively calm.

Soon after they set out, a light mist rose up around them.

The fog grew thicker and thicker, soon obscuring both banks of the river.

Bai Miyao sat in Bai Yixin's arms, her small hands tightly gripping her sleeve.

Qingluo and her two guards also gripped their weapons at the same time.

The old boatman, however, seemed oblivious to everything and continued mechanically punting the bamboo pole.

The ship continued its journey.

Lu Yang stared at the water for a while, and suddenly noticed a dead branch floating past the boat.

A moment later, the withered branch reappeared.

When he saw the withered branch for the third time, Lu Yang finally couldn't help but speak.

"Sir, do you charge per trip or per round trip for your boat?"

The old boatman paused slightly in his rowing motion.

Zhao Mingtang drew his longsword, its cold gleam pointing towards his back.

The old boatman did not answer and continued to sail mechanically.

In the blink of an eye, ripples appeared on the calm water surface.

The reflections of everyone in the water did not move with the boat.

The shadows remained in place, slowly raising their heads to reveal faces without features.

Several dark hands emerged from underwater and reached out to grab the people on the boat.

The two guards immediately drew their swords.

The blade sliced ​​through the water, severing the black hand, which then quickly reformed.

"It's an illusion," Zhao Mingtang said.

The old boatman suddenly threw down his bamboo pole and covered his head with his hands.

"Disembark..."

His voice was hoarse, as if he were enduring some kind of pain.

"Everyone, disembark!"

A fist-sized bulge moved back and forth below his neck.

The worms clearly wanted to completely control his body, but the old man still retained some consciousness.

The guards of Prince An's mansion stepped forward, ready to sever his neck.

"etc."

Lu Yang raised his hand to stop the other person: "He hasn't completely turned into a monster yet."

"Young Master Lu, if we delay any longer, there will be more and more things in the water," Bai Yixin reminded him.

Lu Yang looked down at the bottom of the boat.

His Xuanwu Qi and blood are circulating on their own.

Whenever the underwater shadow approaches, a very subtle tremor can be felt at the bottom of the boat.

The real Gu worms are below.

The problem is that Lu Yang doesn't know any magic and doesn't know how to find it.

Since we can't find it, we'll just have to conquer the whole area at once.

"Everyone, hold on tight."

Zhao Mingtang's expression changed slightly: "Master, what do you want to do?"

"Make a window in this ship."

Lu Yang crouched down and punched the bottom of the boat.

The ship's planks shattered instantly.

The fist pierced through the wooden plank and landed heavily in the water.

The aura of Xuanwu spread outwards along the river and silt.

A violent tremor came from underwater.

The black cocoon hidden in the silt at the bottom of the ship was suppressed by the Xuanwu aura and exploded in the middle before it could escape.

The mist that had been lingering over the river dissipated.

The facial reflections on the water's surface also disappeared at the same time.

Lu Yang then realized that the awning boat had not entered the middle of the river at all.

They were no more than ten feet from the shore.

The surrounding river water wasn't even waist-deep.

A large hole appeared in the bottom of the boat, and river water quickly poured in.

The group could only wade through the mud to return to the shore.

Zhao Mingtang looked down at her skirt, which was covered in mud, then glanced at Lu Yang, her lips twitching slightly.

Lu Yang pretended not to see it.

At least everyone is safe.

It's better to have your clothes a little dirty than to be dragged away by a water ghost.

The old boatman knelt in the shallow water and began to cough violently.

A black beetle the size of a thumb crawled out of his mouth, and as soon as it came into contact with the remaining Xuanwu aura, it quickly curled up into a ball.

Zhao Mingtang thrust his sword down, pinning the Gu worm to the mud.

The dark lines on the old man's face gradually faded.

Lu Yang dragged him back to the shore.

After resting for a while, the old boatman finally regained consciousness.

"Thank you so much for saving my life."

He glanced at the dilapidated awning boat, his expression complex.

"My name is Zhou Shun, and I have spent my whole life rowing boats at this old ferry."

"Two days ago, the woman wearing a white mask came here and planted a Gu worm into my body."

"She ordered me to guard the shore. If a young man surnamed Lu comes, he will lead you into the Gu nest in the water."

Lu Yang was not surprised.

Where did the black carriage go?

Zhou Shun raised his hand and pointed downstream from the old ferry.

After the mist dissipated, a sloping stone path was revealed behind the reeds on the bank.

At the end of the stone path is a stone gate built at the foot of the mountain wall.

Most of the stone gate is submerged in water, and the gate is covered with moss.

"Actually, none of the black carriages crossed the river."

Zhou Shun said, "It followed this stone path into the shipwreck dock."

"That place was originally an underground dock with a natural waterway that allowed people to bypass the ferry crossing and enter the main channel of the Qinglong River directly."

"Back then, many security escort agencies and merchant caravans would use the route through Sunken Shipyard. Later, a landslide occurred, and the entrance was flooded, so the road was gradually abandoned."

Just in case, Lu Yang took out the Life-Seeking Lamp.

The pale flames veered toward the stone gate, almost parallel to the ground.

Fang Xuan is indeed inside!

Just as Lu Yang was about to help Zhou Shun up, half of the Xuanwu Dart Token fell out of his arms.

The token fell into the muddy water.

Zhou Shun froze when he saw the Xuanwu pattern on it.

He reached out his wrinkled hand and picked the token up from the mud.

"Black Tortoise Escort Order..."

Zhou Shun looked up at Lu Yang.

His gaze shifted from Lu Yang's eyebrows and eyes to his figure, and an expression of disbelief gradually appeared in his eyes.

"Your surname is Lu?"

"Who is Lu Chenzhou to you?"

Lu Yang took the token and wiped the mud off it.

"If Shen Guanqi is not mistaken, he should be my father."

Zhou Shun's lips trembled.

A moment later, he actually struggled and knelt down in front of Lu Yang.

"Young Master!"

Lu Yang quickly helped the person up.

"Old man, let's talk this out. Don't kowtow the moment you meet."

Zhou Shun, however, remained intently focused on the half of the Xuanwu Dart Token.

"It can't be wrong."

"This token was an item that the old镖头 (bodyguard/escort) kept close to his body."

"Twenty-one years ago, it was I who personally rowed the boat and sent him into the shipwreck dock."

Lu Yang's heart skipped a beat.

The last time Shen Guanqi saw Lu Chenzhou was at the south gate of Hanlin City.

Heading south from Hanlin City, you'll pass through Huai'an Village and Jiudu.

In other words, this was one of the stops on the father's last journey as a镖师 (bodyguard/escort).

"Do you know what he was escorting back then?" Lu Yang asked.

A hint of fear appeared on Zhou Shun's face.

Even after twenty-one years, he still clearly remembers what happened that night.

"It's neither gold nor silver, nor the treasures rumored in the martial arts world."

"There was a living person sitting in that caravan."